5 Work-At-Home Opportunities for High School and GED Grads

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: “Among workers age 25 and over, those with a bachelor's degree or higher were more likely to work at home than were persons with less education--38 percent of those with a bachelor's degree or higher performed some work at home on days worked compared with 5 percent of those with less than a high school diploma.”

That isn’t overly encouraging if you have a high school diploma and are hoping to find a work-at-home job. But don’t despair, there are opportunities out there for high school grads or those with GEDs. Not all of them are traditional “jobs,” though. Some are business or independent contractor opportunities, but all tend to be dependent on not what your education is but how willing you are to hustle.

Call centers are one of your best bets to work at home if you don’t have a college degree. Unless a company needs a very specialized workforce (e.g., medical call centers, insurance jobs), very rarely do the job requirement for call center agents ask for more than a high school degree.

There’s more to transcription than simply knowing how to type, but with some experience, a good transcriptionist can make money from home. Most jobs are not full-time so you may need several transcription clients. Pay is generally based on your output so speed and accuracy are key to making money at transcription. Typically applicants take a transcription test so hiring is mostly based on your performance, not your education level or even your experience. However, it will likely take some experience to do well on the test

Unlike transcription, you can't really make a living at data entry, but there is a growing number of legitimate data entry companies out there where you can earn some extra cash--and in doing so you can sharpen your skills, which could lead to transcription work. Data entry jobs are rarely full-time so often they can be done in conjunction with your job outside the home. Data entry also can be a way to help you put away some money so you can start a home business or go back to school.

In general, sales is a career that rewards based on performance rather than education. However, keep in mind that there are many sales jobs that still do require a college degree. Consider telemarketing positions and direct sales businesses to increase your income, regardless of education.​

Direct sales are, perhaps, one of the most popular ways to earn money from home because it is fairly inexpensive to start and can be scaled to the time you have available to work on it.

On one level, selling stuff on eBay looks so easy. Put up a listing, and you automatically tap into a worldwide market of buyers. Of course, it's not that simple. You have to know what to sell and for how much. Then there's the ins and outs of creating electronic listings. And when it's all over you have to mail it to the buyer. This is not a “job” but a work-at-home business, and it will take some time and capital to build it.